From the doorway of Samedi's altar room, Angel, Charlie, and Cassie stepped into the hallway. Angel took in the sight of the slaughtered guard laying in two halves on the floor, closed his eyes, and shook his head. He opened them and looked at Cassie. "Rygen's gone, right?"

"Sent the fucker back to hell!" Cassie nodded. "And with Samedi dead, he can't come back."

"Good!" Angel gently knelt to avoid getting any guts or blood on him, or any more blood than he already had on him from his beatings, and carefully slipped the guards rifle out his cold, stiff fingers. Standing, he shivered. "Cause, except for Charlie, I hope I never see another demon for as long as I live."

"I'm not a demon."

Angel and Cassie looked at each other and then at Charlie. Angel looked apologetic, having forgotten to not call her that anymore. "I didn't mean it that way, hun."

"I know." Charlie smiled softly. "I wasn't offended." She stepped up to Angel, kissed him for assurance, and explained. "I'm hellborne. I have a soul, and I'm unique among my people. Not a demon, but something much, much more. But you can say demon, Angel. For the ones we're going to hunt, that's exactly what I want to be known as." She paused and grinned wickedly. "And it's kinda sexy, really."

Angel smirked, but Cassie licked her lips. "I gotta ask; what happened to you when Samedi bound you? What you became?"

"I don't know." Charlie frowned, licking her lips as well in thought. "And it's something I hope to ask my father some day. What I do know is that I have control over it, and it's locked away. You can trust me."

"We do," Angel affirmed.

"Good. Now though, we have more important problems to worry about."

"You're right." Cassie nodded and looked down the hallway. "Let's get to the foyer. I'll head down to rendezvous with the team and organize our escape. You two go and take care of that son of a bitch."

Angel checked the gun and looked at his sister, "I don't know. Maybe we should just go with you first to make sure you're safe."

Right then, two soldiers came charging down the hallway, AR rifles up, and pointed at the three. One shouted loudly, "Stay where you are!"

Cassie rolled her eyes, which flared with green energy, and she waved her hand at the guards. The two men shouted in shock as they were flung up into the air and thrown backwards some ten yards, hitting the stone floor with two solid thuds.

As the soldiers scrambled to their feet, they reached for their sidearms when Charlie, staff in hand, popped into existence between them. Her sudden appearance added to their shock as she turned the staff horizontal at an angle, lining up one end behind the left soldier's head and the other in front of the right's. With demon strength, she jerked the staff to strike one in the face and the other in the back of the head. She followed through with her motions, sending both men crashing back down to the floor, with one landing on his back with his head smacking the stone and the other on his face with the crunching sound of a broken nose.

When they both managed to look up, Charlie hovered above them in full demon form and hissed, her voice reverberating off the stone walls: "Run, assholes." Both screamed, and with haste, they scurried off, occasionally tripping and falling as they ran to get away from the swirling mass of Charlie's demonic form. Charlie allighted to the floor, her demonic eyes turning back towards the pair, and Angel could swear they looked—playful?

Cassie let out a light laugh. "Excellent form with the bo, sis!"

Angel stepped up next to Cassie and shrugged. "Never mind. You're good."

"Damn right, I am!" Cassie looked at her hands and said, "But I have a lot of research to do. I didn't feel this powerful until I ran from the altar room earlier. I knew I was growing in power, but this?"

"Focus on the mission." Angel patted her shoulder before hoisting his rifle, taking point, and ushering them along. "Those were only two soldiers, which tells me Bible's forces are depleted or otherwise repositioning for a second attack. Charlie and I need to get to Bible, carry out our plan, and end this." Angel used his free hand to point directions. "Cassie, on my six. Charlie, cover us from above!"

Charlie took to the ceiling, her body twisting upside down to set her claws into the ceiling, and pulled her mass along, matching Angel's jog, ready to ambush anyone that got in their way. A few minutes later, the three reached the foyer. Angel darted his eyes around and confirmed it was empty. "Clear!"

Cassie pointed up the stairs, "Bible greeted us from up there, and I can sense him, so his office or whatever should be down the hallway." She looked down the hall towards the entrance to the outside, "With all those explosions, there's little doubt that Shrapnel has an escape route already cleared. I'll head out to meet them."

Angel handed the rifle to Cassie, "As back up to your magic. For the next part of the plan, I won't need it."

Cassie took the rifle, slung it over her shoulder, and hugged Angel. "Be careful, Kevin."

He hugged her back tightly. "You too, Cassandra."

Cassie stepped back and looked over to Charlie, who was still hovering on the ceiling; her red eyes moved all over, in deep sentry mode. "And you, dear sister, be safe."

Charlie's red eyes turned to Cassie's and changed into her softer yellow ones, and she blinked once. Her human voice came out of the black mass. "We promise, sis. Go help the children. We got this!"

With a salute, Cassie turned and ran down the hallway. Angel watched her go, and he didn't feel any fear for her. No, it was whomever got in her way that he pitied. He shook himself to get steady, took a deep breath, and looked over his shoulder. "Okay, I'm ready."

Angel watched the black mass that was his girlfriend explode outwards and come down over him, and he disappeared inside the swirling black as she swooped them up and over the railing, heading towards their final battle with Bible.